Avoiding Tax Traps with short-term assignments

Claudia Howe

Nov 17, 2009

Has anybody heard about the magic 183 days? So, if you stay in the host country for less than 183 days, you don’t have to pay tax in that country, right? … right? Well, actually the answer is: sometimes.

Many folks will remember the 183-day rule, but often they do not quite know why or how. But it sure lulls many international short-term business assignees (and their managers) into a false sense of security that as long as they are in the other country for less than that magic number of days, thinking they will be exempt from that country’s tax.